Fire Birds premiered in theatres nationwide in the United States on May 25, 1990 grossing a modest $14,760,451 in domestic ticket receipts. The film was met with negative critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas; generally due to its unfavorable dialogue and striking similarities to the more popular 1986action filmTop Gun, starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis.

Brad: Rules of engagement: 1. Whoever sees the other person first is the winner; 2. Whoever gets seen first is toast.

Brad: When we have mastered these tactics, we will use them to seek out and confront the forces of evil and kill them deader than hell!

[to Brad Little]

Jake: Well. That's very big of you, Little.

Jake: I AM THE GREATEST!

Jake: Time to throw the dog a bone, Breaker.

[Jake is trying to rescue Guthrie from Stoller]

Jake: You're not touching her, you filthy piece of shit!

Jake: Oops. You blew it.

Brad: Little's pre mission pep talk to Preston describing what he expects of his protégé "...a 1st class all American hero with his heart and brain wired together cooking full tilt boogie for freedom and justice!"

Billie: [commiserating with Jake after he fails a test] It's like sex, hardly anyone gets it right the first time.

Brad: Make that damn thing go away, son!

Jake: Breaker, strawberry gum?

Breaker: No.

Jake: How about you, sir. Strawberry gum?

Brad: [angrily] No!

Jake: [dead pan] It's delicious?

Brad: [demonstrating Apache's capabilities to Preston] You could crash this thing at twenty G's and survive, but I am NOT going to prove it to you!